US and British warplanes flying missions round the clock inflicted fresh damage on Baghdad today as US Marines battled Iraqi forces in the south of the country and America's Gulf commander vowed to conduct a campaign of overwhelming force.
US infantry said they had captured a vital bridge over the Euphrates river, needed for their push towards Baghdad, but elsewhere invading troops met some stiffer-than-expected resistance as they pushed deeper into Iraq.
By contrast to opposition on the ground, US and British forces had dominance of the skies, striking Baghdad with a devastating aerial assault that plunged large areas of the city into darkness and set off giant fireballs, thunderous explosions and glowing clouds.
Warplanes targeted Saddam Hussein's palace on the banks of the River Tigris, government and military targets. The precise scale of Iraqi fatalities from the latest wave of bombing was not clear.
US Army General Tommy Franks, commander of the invasion, said his forces were using munitions on a "scale never before seen" and predicted that victory was certain. "This will be a campaign unlike any other in history. A campaign characterized by shock, by surprise, by flexibility... and by the application of overwhelming force," he said in his first briefing since the attack on Iraq began on Thursday.
Anti-aircraft fire streamed into the night sky over the Iraqi city of Mosul tonight, aircraft flew overhead and explosions could be seen from 25 miles
Iraq denounced the attackers as criminals and appealed to the United Nations to halt the invasion "unconditionally."
After a day of fierce fighting, US Marines said they had defeated Iraqi forces on the outskirts of the oil city of Basra.
Further north, in the city of Nassiriya, US troops forging a path to Baghdad secured a bridge over the Euphrates, dislodging Iraqi forces who had slowed their advance.
Iraqi state television showed President Saddam Hussein meeting officials on Saturday, praising Iraqi soldiers facing the invasion. The film gave no clue as to when the meetings took place. The announcer said they took place today.
Gen Franks said he did not know if Saddam was dead or alive after ferocious missile attacks on Baghdad this week, but that there were signs of confusion in the Iraqi government.